About Ares Project

Welcome to Ares Project Blog, about Kodi, Raspberry Pi, all things streaming and tech related. As we recruit new contributors then new subject matter will be added, which we hope you will find of interest. If there is anything you need help with or further explanation of, head over to our forum http://ares-project.uk

We have brought together a group of people to help put all this content together; born out of Tekto's original blog and now the Ares Project Blog, to provide a wide range of articles covering many aspects of streaming and related technology.

What is Kodi?

Kodi is an open source media player, that works across android, IOS, Android, Windows and Linux. The media player itself does nothing. However, add in 3rd party “plug ins” called Add-ons, and you have access to masses of online content. This content covers thousands of movies and tv shows all for free. You can also gain access to lots of free to air live TV.

This blog provides information on where to find these plugins and install them. The blog format is not good enough to provide support or diagnose problems so we created a forum Ares-Project.uk . You should head over there in the first instance, with over 45,000 members and close to 1million visitors overall, I'm sure you'll get quick answers to your Kodi or streaming problems.

Is It Very Technical?

Yes and no, like anything new, there are lots of new terms and references to confuse and confound you. This blog will show the simple steps how to get add ons installed. Ares Project, also provides the Ares Wizard, a user friendly “tool box” that gives much easier access and convenience for new and experienced users alike. The Ares Wizard will give you simple, easy access to preconfigured Kodi versions, called “builds”

What are Builds?

If you load the Ares Wizard, this gives you access to individual addons and over 300 “builds”. A build is a preconfigured collection of add ons, normally with added functions to add to the user experience. If you are new, be aware, builds can gain very loyal and “fervent” followers. You should try builds to see which suits YOU, after all some people love sprouts, others hate them! There are lots of very good builds that only have small followings and others that have 20-30-40,000 followers.

Is Kodi Legal?

I get access to thousands of movies and tv shows, live tv – is this legal? Well this is actually a complex issue. Distributing copyright infringing files via torrents sites has been deemed illegal by the ECJ, (ECJ ruling on TPB) outside of the ECJ you will have to check this for yourself. Most Kodi add-ons do not use torrents (some do – so educate yourself!), scraper add-ons work by accessing “existing websites” – things you can access from your browser (read this – Movie websites), so in themselves (IMHO) kodi add-ons do nothing illegal – just bypass the browser part to access the same material that is there anyway. The ECJ ruling on torrents is about distributing the files themselves – although this hasn't been tested in a court of law – yet!

It is unlikely an end user would be prosecuted, however we cannot advise where and when a violation might occur, so please check.

It is illegal for the people that host the files you stream. These filehosts therefore are subject to “take down notices”, asset seizures and even imprisonment. This is why things can work one day, then next day the exact same movie might not work.

In the UK its now law for ISP's to log your activity for a year, which can be viewed on request by certain Govt depts on requests, including the police. In the US its now legal for ISPs to sell your browsing data ( and anything else they collect about you). In Holland a recent ruling allows copyright trolls to sotre data for 5 years on browsing habits and in Germany there is a high conviction rate by copyright trolls chasing end users.
You should take precautions to anonymise your online activities regardless of streaming or not, but almost certainly if you do.

Do I have to Pay?

In short, no. Everything the Ares Project does is free to the end user, Kodi itself is free and so are “most” of the addons available to you. However there are certain providers who have “paid subscriptions” or “subs”, these are usually much less than your cable or satellite providers. These services are illegal for “those that provide them”, but not you the end user.

Paying For Services

I mention that the providers are illegal to focus your mind on this subject. If you purchase a sub, you are paying an “illegal operator”, who could be shut down without warning. You will have no recourse as a subscriber. Now you should understand that and understand you are paying some “random, faceless” person on the internet, so keep this in mind. There are such providers who have been around along time, others that have started up over the last year or so.

Advantages of Paid Services

Almost all will claim that they offer 100% reliability, but I will be honest, nobody can deliver this, they all have their issues and downtimes. This is the nature of the internet, it can be very variable, servers break etc. Do not expect a completely flawless service. They do generally operate better than the free services, but do remember you can get everything for free, paying is choice you make. The reason to pay is convenience, all the channels and sports, usually on a TV guide or EPG (electronic program guide), much like you are accustomed to watching TV now.

Further Support

We do not offer tech support on this blog as it is not “manned” other than to write the articles. You can obtain support via our forum – ares-project.uk

Comments (13)

Do you guys know that the “TOTALTV” and “TITAN” add ons do not install from ares? Schism site seems to be down.
Also, this is the only way I can contact you as I don’t like using facebook. Don’t you guys have email ???

I posted on the forum, think i found the issue to a few peoples posts but didnt want to cut and paste all over the forum. People advising that AW wont install after crash – if they are not running Kodi Jarvis v16.1 (or newer), it will give that error everyone has while downloading. I have v16.0 on multiple devices, did fresh starts and all, with continuous fails. V16.1 solves the problem EVERY TIME on my end. Hope it helps, maybe that can close a few threads on help & support for you guys.

Hi Terri….I need a pros help I watched videos of all sorts your page is awesome buddy…. I need specific and the real help. .. I have a mx3 box mx3 it works pretty good. I would like to know would you do the buffering settings after installing a build and addons and after cleaning you use the memory that’s left? Or after builds and addond and cleaning cache n all the stuff the you use your mg left over and use a 1/3 and tines by 1024? Look before cleaning my mb is about 260…… after cleaning cache , and thumbnails, and packages and boot, I power up the click on the boost, and mg is 350 free if not when in use its 260…. do curlclientime is 10 and other is 10,,,, I put sofar……. I need to know if I clean then use free mg ,,,, or just use not clean? And what would bee the official number to put in buffermode . Pls help tekton

Sorry to type so much I would like to know wat would be my buffermode number to put in and when before mb being cleaned or what the box ha? I’ve asked and writing to alot of people and what they tell me is b.s. I could tell by your page you know your stuff and thanks for helping. If you don’t reply I understand

Ok, I turned on ares today to do maintenance and there was a brief mention of sport addons , I am having the hardest time this year finding live hockey games, nothing like last year…what were you telling us about the live sports.Thank you for your site…
Chris